[3114] in Release_7.7_team
Athena Java default bumped up to 1.3.1_02
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Alex T Prengel)
Mon Jan 28 19:23:30 2002
Message-Id: <200201290023.TAA08786@dit.mit.edu>
To: facdev@MIT.EDU, cfyi@MIT.EDU
cc: alexp@MIT.EDU, cwis-dev@MIT.EDU, release-team@MIT.EDU, ops@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 19:23:27 -0500
From: Alex T Prengel <alexp@MIT.EDU>
Hi Folks,
I've updated the default JDK Athena version to the latest available production
release (1.3.1_02 for Sun/Linux, or 1.3.1-MR for SGI), as I usually do just
prior to the start of a new semester. This includes both the JDK components
and the Netscape Java plugin- however we still have complications with the
latter:
As we experienced previously with earlier plugins and for reasons
still unknown (at least to me), the 1.3.1_02 plugin works unreliably
on Suns- sometimes Netscape activates it, sometimes not, for no
obvious reason. The Linux version seems to work fine, consistent with
what we've seen before. I've consulted with tbelton on this and
suggested that he maintain the Netscape plugin choice we've set
previously- for Sun, the plugin in the java_v1.3.0 locker (the last
version we've seen to work consistently on Suns), and for Linux, the
plugin in the "current" locker, which is now 1.3.1_02.
Also, although SGI now seems to have provided a Java plugin as well,
I've decided to punt it a) because SGIs are on the way out and b)
because the file layout is very different on SGI from that for Sun and
Linux and I don't want to start further experimenting with Java
plugins given our history of problems with this.
Finally, I've left in the Netscape 6.x versions of the plugins instead
of deleting them as I had done previously (the reason was that leaving
them in before made Netscape crash on launch with complaints about
missing libraries- this no longer seems to happen). I think it pretty
unlikely but in case there are any Hesiod overnight propagation
effects and Netscape starts crashing tomorrow please let me know ASAP.
If ops folk need to deal with this before I wake up the things to
delete are the ns600 directories and contents below:
/mit/java_v1.3.1_02/distrib/j2sdk1_3_1_02/jre/plugin/sparc/ns600
/mit/java_v1.3.1_02/distrib/jdk1.3.1_02/jre/plugin/i386/ns600
More info is in file /mit/java/Athena/messages/JDK131_02def.
I'll hold off a day or two on announcing this publicly to software-announce.
Alex
